Chapter 106 |
Chapter 106: Don’t Worry, Just Leave Everything to Lord Lin Wei! (Bonus Chapter)
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The words sliced through the air like a razor—utterly merciless.
The tense atmosphere, which had only just begun to thaw, instantly froze over again with these new accusations.
The Vice Dean was left utterly speechless.
He’d expected resistance, of course, but nothing this fierce!
“I’m only doing what’s best for the Academy,” he managed to stammer out.
But with things at this point, he couldn’t just remain silent.
Taking a steadying breath, the Vice Dean resolved to stick to his original argument.
“It’s just that, for a while, profits won’t be as high as they used to be. Still, with Director Nerinette’s capabilities, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before things turn around. But we can’t seriously risk the Academy facing huge breach-of-contract penalties, can we?”
What a load of nonsense.
To be honest, ever since I joined the Alchemy Department, my main job had been brewing “special-grade potions.” That’s it.
But after so many years as a Demon Lord, did you really think I couldn’t read the situation from the clues laid out before me?
Do you take me for some clueless figurehead?
“You’re really going to throw away the Alchemy Department’s hard-earned reputation for a bit of short-term gain?”
“Vice Dean, are you kidding me? Hasn’t the Alchemy Department made enough money for the Academy over all these years?”
“I factored in the costs long ago. As long as we can fulfill the orders and weather this rough patch, I can earn back every coin we lose in just over a month… Are you honestly working for the enemy now, or are you just a fool?”
Nerinette made no effort to conceal her fury.
Hearing the Vice Dean still stubbornly making excuses, Nerinette nearly lost her mind. Her frustration erupted almost involuntarily.
But she hadn’t expected Lin Wei to see through everything so clearly.
She’d always thought of him as a reliable assistant—talented at alchemy, yes, but ultimately just a promising young man. The intricacies and red tape of administration were usually a mystery to anyone outside management. For Lin Wei to instantly grasp the situation was far beyond what she’d imagined.
She was already considering grooming him as her successor to lead the Alchemy Department! What was she supposed to do now?
“Director Nerinette, your suspicion is going too far—I’m only thinking of the Academy’s best interests…” the Vice Dean protested weakly.
“Enough!”
At that moment, the alchemists from the Royal Noble Magic Academy—who had been silently observing the drama—finally lost their patience.
They had gone out of their way to approach the Vice Dean and negotiate a collaboration, only for him to prove incapable of even managing the Alchemy Department. All this fuss over a department head and a guy who looked like a temporary hire? What on earth was going on here?
Was this really so difficult to resolve? In the end, am I going to have to handle this myself?
“I’ll ask this plainly: Who has the final say over the Alchemy Department’s orders?”
Wilma, with her short hair and striking crimson eyes, radiated an air of sharp competence as she stepped forward and cut straight into the argument.
She had no patience for the back-and-forth over whether the orders should be transferred. Instead, she went directly to the heart of the matter.
“I… in principle, as the Vice Dean overseeing this area, I have the authority to make the decision,” replied the Vice Dean, his thinning hair mirroring his faltering confidence.
The Vice Dean glanced at Lin Wei, and his overwhelming instinct for self-preservation suddenly made him abandon his earlier hardline stance.
At times like this, he thought, it was best to just keep quiet and observe.
“So that’s it? It’s because of this Lin Wei that you can’t make the final decision?” Wilma’s eyes were direct, her gaze practically spelling out her thoughts for all to see.
She’d just been questioning the Vice Dean, but now her attention shifted sharply to Lin Wei. The name sounded familiar—she was certain she’d heard it somewhere before. Still, that wasn’t important right now. Her priority was to complete the task the Academy had assigned her.
“I’m not particularly interested in your background or who you are,” Wilma said coolly.
“After all, when it comes to connections, you can’t possibly match mine. Maybe you have a few patrons above you, but I’ve already outgrown most of mine.”
Her tone made it clear she didn’t see Lin Wei as any sort of threat. With her arms folded and gaze steady, she somehow managed to project an air of superiority, as if she were looking down on him from above.
“My question is simple—just one thing. If you can answer it, the Royal Noble Magic Academy will walk away right now and never bring this up again.”
“It’s really not complicated… What does the Imperial Capital Magic Academy plan to do about these orders?”
It was as straightforward as could be. No arguments about status or endless debates—just the core issue:
Can you or can’t you solve this problem?
“Are you about to say you’ll double the staff, buy herbs from other regions, and push through the orders even if it means taking a loss?” she pressed, cutting off Nerinette before she could repeat her earlier plan.
Wilma’s smile grew ever brighter, as if she could already see despair flickering across her rival’s face.
“Don’t even think about it, Nerinette. I’ll be honest with you—ever since the Royal Noble Magic Academy decided to compete for these orders yesterday, we’ve been pulling every string we can. We’ve managed to bring nearly all the alchemists in the capital and surrounding regions under our banner.”
“For the next month, we’ll be paying them one and a half times the market rate to work for the Royal Noble Magic Academy. I know what you’re thinking—you could offer triple the pay to poach them back. But do you know what’s written in their contracts? Penalty clauses, of course.”
She wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore—her declaration of war was written plainly on her face.
Watching Nerinette’s expression shift from shock to anger, and then to the verge of lunging at her, Wilma finally couldn’t hold back her laughter.
Crushing her old schoolmate with this unbeatable posture—just like in the old days—was always so satisfying.
“Hahaha! That look on your face is priceless, Nerinette! I’ve been waiting to see you despair like this again!”
“Since I’m still willing to help, why don’t you do the smart thing and say, ‘Senior, please help us,’ and hand over the orders? Otherwise, your Alchemy Department is about to face a mountain of breach-of-contract penalties.”
“Wilma! You bastard! Moron! Is playing dirty all you know how to do? Why don’t you settle this with real skill—let the best alchemist win, damn it!”
Nerinette was so furious at Wilma’s taunting that her eyes were practically blazing red.
“Calm down, Director, please calm down,” Lin Wei said, quickly stepping in to restrain her.
He couldn’t help but feel Wilma’s trash talk was oddly familiar—where had he heard this kind of sore-loser rant before?
Ah, that’s right… It sounded just like when the Catkin Tribe’s cat lost her temper and shouted at him back then.
Too bad, just like then, he’d crushed her with overwhelming force.
But now, of course, as Nerinette’s ally, Lin Wei would never crush his own teammate.
Which meant—unfortunately for their enemies—that Wilma was the only one left to be crushed.
“So, let me get this straight,” Lin Wei said, his tone cool and measured. “The reason you’re so confident is because you’ve snatched up all the alchemists on the market. You think that means you’ve got the Imperial Capital Magic Academy’s Alchemy Department in the palm of your hand, right?”
“Obviously,” Wilma replied with a cold smirk, nodding without the slightest hesitation.
“In other words, you don’t actually have the ability to monopolize all the alchemical ingredients, do you?”
“Hm?” Wilma paused, uncertain of his angle. But after a moment’s thought, she shrugged, unconcerned. “Of course not. The herb market is huge, and the surrounding cities are full of common ingredients. There’s no point wasting a fortune to buy them all up… But what’s the use of having herbs if you don’t have anyone to brew the potions?”
She folded her arms, her face brimming with smug satisfaction. “What, you two think you can fill all those orders by yourselves?”
She let out a laugh. “Come on, Lin Wei. Even if you and Nerinette worked yourselves to death, you’d never manage it. Better just accept reality.”
“Then how about this—if we do manage it, you get down on your knees and kowtow to Director Nerinette, right here, in front of everyone,” Lin Wei said suddenly, his voice calm as he pointed at the floor between them.
He was barely suppressing a smile as he looked at Wilma, his face expressionless.
“Let’s make it a wager,” Lin Wei continued. “If we pull it off, you kneel and give Director Nerinette a proper, resounding kowtow right here. If we fail, she’ll kneel and, while loudly apologizing—‘I’m sorry, please forgive me, Senior Wilma!’—she’ll kowtow to you. Fair enough, don’t you think?”